


Grateful for serial killers

by dont_hate_me01



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Clay Spenser, Hurt Sonny Quinn, Hurt and Comfort Bingo Amnesty round February 2021, International Fanworks Day 2021, Knife Wounds, Language, Nightmares, Serial Killers, trapped together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29843973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: “Tell me again, why are we in this fucking mess?” He didn’t give Clay a chance to respond, instead he continued. “No, wait, I remember.Youtook me clubbing.” He huffed. “Clubbing.” Sonny shook his head.
Relationships: Sonny Quinn/Clay Spenser (Pre-slash)
Kudos: 42





	Grateful for serial killers

**Author's Note:**

> **AN 1:** Thank you to the ever present [RoboFoxtrot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoboFoxtrot) for once again helping out with the beta side of things.
> 
> **AN 2:** Thank you to the mods over at the Hurt and Comfort community on LJ for hosting these amnesty rounds.

“This fucking sucks!” Sonny yelled as he yet again tried to yank the iron bars in front of the small window out of its concrete hold.

“Sonny,” Clay groaned softly. “You’re wasting your energy. That’s not going to give way.” He coughed and hissed as the motion made the pain in his body flare up.

“I can’t just sit here and wait for death riding on his pale horse.” Sonny kicked at the dirt floor as he made his way over to where his teammate and best friend leaned against the wall. His head pounded and he could once again feel the blood trickle down his neck.

“Let me have a look,” Sonny instructed as he gently removed Clay’s hand from the knife wound to take a closer look. He grimaced at the sight. Not only was the wound still oozing blood but puss seeped from the wound itself and he could smell it. What was more bothersome was the angry red lines that veined away from the injury. Any fool could see that the wound was infected and Sonny knew time was running out for Clay. They had to get out of here.

“It’s not looking good, is it?” Clay swallowed. His mouth and throat were dirt dry.

“I’ve seen worse.” Sonny averted his eyes as he placed the piece of cloth over the wound again.

Clay managed to smirk. “Liar.” He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see the look of pity in Sonny’s eyes.

“You can call me many things, but a liar I’m not.” Sonny huffed as he made himself comfortable next to the younger man. He gently pulled Clay closer and made him rest his head on his thigh. “Get some sleep. You know you never look your best without your beauty sleep.”

“I’ll always be prettier than you, Sonny.” Clay coughed again and moaned.

“Steady.” Sonny dragged his hand through Clay’s curly hair in an attempt to settle Clay down.

“Tell me again, why are we in this fucking mess?” He didn’t give Clay a chance to respond, instead he continued. “No, wait, I remember. _You_ took me clubbing.” He huffed. “Clubbing.” Sonny shook his head.

Clay slowly shook his head. “You wanted to go to the Boom-Boom Room – again. I couldn’t go there. Not after what happened the last time.” If Clay had the energy left in him, he would’ve blushed.

Sonny chuckled. “Well, at least there we didn’t get kidnapped.” He looked around. “We also didn’t get trapped together.”

Clay squeezed Sonny’s thigh. “Are you saying you don’t want to be trapped with me?”

Sonny used his nails to scratch Clay’s scalp lightly. “Rather you than anyone else.” He couldn’t keep the fondness out of his voice.

“Or stabbed with a knife,” Clay added.

“Well, there was this one time…” Sonny shook his head. “So not the right time to think about that.” He shuddered. “And in any case, that won’t get us out of this fucking place!” he bellowed.

“You’ve never told me that story.” Clay lifted his head. His gaze locked with Sonny’s. He was grateful for the fact that their cell had a single globe that provided them some light. He didn’t think either of them would’ve been so calm if they were stuck in this small cell in total darkness.

“It’s not a story for innocent ears,” Sonny replied with a sly grin.

“I’m not innocent.” Clay pouted.

“Trust me, young pup, you are.” Sonny pushed Clay away from him and got to his feet. “We need to get out of here.” He paced the room and wiped the blood away that ran down his neck.

Clay remained silent. It wouldn’t help telling the large Texan that he’d gone over their tiny hell-hole with a fine-tooth comb and hadn’t found any way to escape. They were stuck here until the cavalry arrived, or until their capturers appeared and gave them the chance to escape. Clay closed his eyes. He wished Sonny would sit down again, he felt cold and he could do with a bit of Sonny’s body heat. His head pounded with each breath he took and the deep wound in his side burned ice cold. Clay shivered.

“You cold?” Sonny asked with concern as he saw Clay shivered. He was sweating himself. There was no fresh air coming in and the air inside was stuffy.

“A bit.” Clay shivered again. He groaned as Sonny sat down next to him and pulled him to his side. He sighed in relief as the bigger guy tucked him in close to his side.

“Don’t get used to this,” Sonny grumbled even as he tried to pull Clay closer to his side.

Clay hummed under his breath.

They stayed in silence for a while before Sonny spoke up again. “Who do you reckon took us?” He kept his eyes closed as he asked the question.

“Someone stupid, is my guess.”

Sonny snorted. “You’re right on that one. It would’ve been better for the bastards to kill us the minute they took us. If I get my hands on them now, I’m ripping them to pieces.”

“Leave something for me as well.”

“You can shred the larger pieces.”

Clay shuddered. For a moment the thought of pieces of flesh and blood made him nauseous.

“You still cold?” Sonny asked. He felt like a baking oven next to Clay.

Clay shook his head. He didn’t have the energy to answer. A searing pain in the wound made him whimper.

“Easy, pup, breathe through it,” Sonny coached as he saw the pain lines etched into Clay’s face.

Clay concentrated on his breathing. He was aware that he squeezed Sonny’s hand with everything he had in him. “Fuck,” he whispered as the pain finally subsided. He tried to wet his lips with his tongue but it didn’t work.

“How long do you reckon we’ve been stuck here?” Sonny asked after minutes of silence.

“Less than a day.” Clay kept his eyes closed. He still couldn’t believe that they were taken from a stupid club. He huffed.

“Something you want to share?”

“Just thinking about this.” Clay lifted his hand and waved it around.

“Mmm, not our brightest moment.”

“We didn’t know,” Clay responded.

“We’re Tier One Operators.” Sonny stretched his legs out. “We’re supposed to be aware of our surroundings twenty-four-seven.”

“We were.” Clay shuffled and bit down on his bottom lip to suppress a groan. “We were trying to help.”

“And got jumped.” Sonny lowered his eyes.

“Don’t go there,” Clay growled.

“It’s my fault.”

Clay managed not to roll his eyes. “You’re right, it is your fault.” He reached out and squeezed Sonny’s hand. “It’s your fault that I’m still alive.”

“I should’ve…”

“No, Sonny. There was nothing else you could do. You know as well as I do, second guessing yourself is not going to change a thing.”

Sonny remained silent. He could still see the two of them standing on the corner getting some fresh air after hours of stale air and slugging back shots when they both heard the commotion from the back. Neither of them hesitated to go and investigate. It appeared to be a woman being assaulted by a larger man. Both he and Clay stormed forward. He launched himself at the man, while he knew Clay would make sure the woman was safe. And that’s when the shit hit the fan. He’d just dragged the man back and gave him a punch to the jaw that he was sure loosened a few teeth, when Clay’s scream reached his ears. He’d turned and his blood ran cold.

Clay was down on the ground, the woman straddling his waist. She had stabbed Clay with a motherfucking knife in his abdomen towards the right side. She’d leaned forward and placed all of her body weight down on the handle. This was the reason Clay screamed.

Sonny had let go of the man. He’d shoved him backwards and stormed towards the woman. She’d looked up and her eyes made him stop in his tracks. She had a feral look on her face. Sonny had turned and grabbed the man. He was more than prepared to kill him to get the woman off Clay. She had merely smirked at him and pressed the blade deeper. He had no choice but to let the man go. Before he could say a word, the man struck him on the back of the head. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the look of fear on Clay’s face.

He’d woken up in this tiny cell with Clay sprawled out next to him. It looked like they’d tried to cauterize it but they’d done a very sloppy job. Now it was clearly infected and he had nothing to treat it with.

“Sonny?” Clay’s voice pierced his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Will you do me a favor, please?” Clay’s voice sounded small.

Sonny immediately knew what Clay wanted. “No. You can do it yourself. We’re getting out of here.”

“You don’t even know what I want to ask.”

“I know you well enough, Bam-Bam and the answer remains the same. No.”

“Sonny.” Clay took a deep breath. “Please.”

Sonny lowered his head. He nodded.

“Should I not make it, tell the team it has been an honor and privilege to serve with them. They are my true family.”

Sonny remained quiet.

“Sonny.”

“You’ll be able to tell them that yourself.” He squeezed Clay’s hand. “We will get out of here. Bravo will find us.”

Clay remained silent as he closed his eyes. He was bone tired.

Sonny remained where he was even after Clay’s breathing evened out and his best friend drifted off to sleep. He could feel himself tensing up as each minute dragged by. The man who clobbered him over the head and the bitch who stabbed Clay better make sure that if they come back that they were ready to die. Because there was no way he was leaving here with them still breathing.

When Clay started shivering against him, Sonny pulled the younger man up and settled him between his legs so that Clay rested with his back against Sonny’s chest. He encircled Clay with his arms and rested his chin on Clay’s head. “Hang in there, Clay. We’re not out of this fight. Don’t give up.” Sonny closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I love you.” He whispered the words he’d been too afraid to say out loud.

Time went past slowly. The temperature in their cell plummeted and even Sonny started feeling cold. Clay on the other hand was no longer an icicle, instead he was burning up. His cheeks were flamed red, Sonny could feel the heat radiating from his skin. Clay was also mumbling, not making much sense. Every now and again he would plead, and beg them to stop. He would whimper in pain and would only settle down when Sonny held him tight.

Sonny soothed Clay again as the younger man’s nightmares became more intense. His head rolled from side to side and his body jerked as if he tried to fight someone off. Clay screamed. His voice echoed through the small enclosure. Not even his own voice could get him out of the dream he was clearly trapped in.

“Come on, Clay, you're safe, there’s no one here that will harm you. You’re safe. I’ve got you. I will always have your back.” Sonny repeated the litany of words until Clay sighed once and became still in his embrace. For a moment Sonny’s heart stopped beating. His hand trembled as he reached out to check for a pulse. He had to concentrate before he finally found the faint rhythm beneath his fingertip. “Don’t give up on me, Clay. Keep fighting.”

Sonny tensed as he heard a sound. For a moment he had no idea what it was. Then he heard it again - footsteps. “I will fucking kill you,” Sonny murmured as he gently placed Clay to the side and quietly made his way over to the door. It was a solid steel door with no visible hinges or handle on the inside. The sounds became clearer. From what he could hear, it seemed that more than one person was approaching the door. At that moment Sonny didn’t care how many people were on the other side of the door. He was prepared to take them all down.

The door rattled, Sonny stood ready.

Faint voices sounded up on the other side. A thud against the door made Sonny frown.

“Blow it.”

“Shit!” Sonny yelled as he scrambled back from the door. He gave one giant leap and covered Clay’s body just as the door blew open. Shouts reached his ears as people filed in. Sonny’s ears rang but he heard Jason’s voice above all.

“Bravo One to Havoc, we pass Gallego. I repeat, we pass Gallego.” Jason knelt next to Sonny and placed his hand on the Texan’s shoulder. “You guys okay?”

“Jase?” Sonny frowned.

Jason repeated his question while he keyed his comms at the same time. “Trent, need you in here.” He didn’t listen to the response from Bravo Four, as he focused his attention on Sonny. The large Texan’s eyes were unfocused and blood seeped down a deep gash from the back of his head. It bothered him that Clay hadn't stirred from where he lay on the concrete floor. For a moment he feared the worst. But then Clay’s chest raised up and Jason himself could breathe again.

“Why don’t you sit down here next to Spenser and tell me what the two of you got into this time around?” Jason guided Sonny down and didn’t comment when the Texan reached out and took Clay’s hand in his.

“Sonny?” Jason asked when Sonny didn’t respond.

Sonny looked up. His eyes were filled with tears. “Don’t let him die, Jase. Please. Don’t let him die.”

“He’s not going to die, Sonny. I promise you he’s not going to die.” Jason reached for the small medipack he had on his chest to take out a piece of gauze to stem the bleeding when Sonny’s eyes rolled over and the large man toppled over.

“Fuck!” Jason roared. “Trent!”

****

**HC Bingo Amnesty Round Feb 2021**

**4 Days later**

Sonny did his utmost best not to pout but he wasn’t very successful. By the grin on Trent’s face, he knew the medic was aware of what he was doing.

“It’s still unfair,” Sonny tried again. “I can walk.”

Trent shrugged. “You can also face plant. And you did that splendidly just a few hours ago.” Sonny had suffered a hairline skull fracture at the back of his head, which caused a subdural hematoma with bleeding between the skull and the brain. Luckily the bleed was small and there was no need to operate. It didn’t mean that they weren’t scared any less.

“I didn’t face plant.”

Trent snorted. “Sorry, Sonny, you’re right. You didn’t face plant but that’s just because Full Metal was standing next to you and managed to catch you before you went down.”

Sonny had no response to that. He sighed. “I’ll walk slowly. It’s not far.”

Trent growled. “You’re testing my patience here. Get in the fucking wheelchair or I’ll fetch nurse Ratchet and I will make sure you don’t see Clay until he’s released from hospital.”

Sonny gaped at Bravo’s medic. “No reason to get nasty.” He indicated to the wheelchair Trent held onto. “I’ll use it.”

“That’s what I thought.” Trent waited until Sonny was seated in the chair before he smiled. He understood Sonny’s reluctance to use the chair but he didn’t want Sonny to pass out on their way to Clay. Nurse Ratchet will have his ass and Jason will surely kill him.

The two men quickly made their way down the hall, got into the elevator and rode up two floors before they exited the metal box and headed down the hall again to where Clay’s room was situated across the nurses’ station.

Trent greeted the nurse with a friendly smile before he wheeled Sonny into the private room. Clay was no longer in ICU but was still seriously ill. The knife wound had caused internal damage and the infection was even more serious. Luckily the surgeons repaired the damage done to his right kidney and his liver. They had also managed to repair the tear in his small intestine. Currently he was still fighting the infection from the wound as well as the bacteria inside the wound which caused peritonitis. Clay was on heavy doses of antibiotics to make sure he didn’t get sepsis because that would certainly kill him.

Trent pushed Sonny’s chair right up to the bed and made sure the brake was up before he stepped away. “Let me find out how he’s doing.”

Sonny merely nodded. His attention was on Clay. Since they had been rescued four days ago this was only the second time he’d seen Clay. The young man was whiter than the sheet that covered his body. His cheeks burned red and Sonny didn’t need to check Clay’s temperature to know he had a fever.

Sonny reached out and took Clay’s hand between his. He squeezed it once. “I told you Bravo would find us.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. He wanted to say more but no words came out. Sonny settled by keeping Clay’s hand in his. He’d already told the team how he felt about Clay. The fact that they had grinned at him and slapped him on the back made him aware that he didn’t hide his feelings for Clay as well as he thought he did. It didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered now was Clay waking up and him telling the younger man how he felt about him.

****

**HC Bingo Amnesty Round Feb 2021**

**Perry Residence: 3 Weeks after the rescue**

“Wait. What?” Sonny frowned. He sat next to Clay and handed the young man a bottle of water while he had a beer in his hand. Clay was still not allowed any alcohol for the next three to four weeks.

Brock nodded. “You heard us.”

“Jase?” Sonny looked up at his team lead. “Are you serious, this is not a joke?”

Jason smiled. It has been a while since he could do something as simple as smile. “It’s true.”

Sonny shivered. “I’ll be having nightmares after this.”

“Don’t look now, Sonny, but you’re already suffering from night terrors, I don’t think this will make your top ten of reasons to freak out,” Clay responded.

Sonny gaped at him. “How can you accept this so nonchalant?”

Clay shrugged. “What does it matter what they called the checkpoints of the mission? They found us. I’m more grateful about that.”

“Yeah, I’m too. I’m very grateful, but still.” Sonny shuddered.

“It’s fitting, you can’t disagree.” Clay took a swallow of his water. He was still shocked when they finally heard who the couple was that kidnapped them. They turned out to be a serial killer couple who targeted men, preferably two men at a time who would come to the rescue of the woman. They would kidnap their victims, torture them, sexually abused them, and then killed them before getting rid of the bodies. The FBI had been on their tail for more than six months.

In the end they were pulled over after their car had a broken tail light and they got involved in a shootout with the police. Both of them were killed on the scene. That was the reason why they didn’t return to where they held Sonny and Clay.

In the meantime, Bravo, with Davis and Mandy in the lead, had traced Sonny’s truck to where it was parked a block from the club. From there they obtained surveillance footage of where Sonny and Clay were loaded into a black van. It had taken them hours to find more footage of the kidnappers’ faces and once they had their information, they started looking for any property in their names. Lisa was still searching for possible properties in their names when the info of their deaths came through. They had contacted the FBI and with the agency’s help Lisa triangulated an area of where their cell phones were most active. It was in an abandoned factory yard. Bravo (with special permission from SECNAV), and the FBI conducted the rescue mission together. They’d used the names of serial killer couples to pass each checkpoint reached. The names they used for the mission included Copeland (Ray and Fay), West (Fred and Rosemary), Starkweather (Charles and Caril Ann Fugate) and the last - Gallego - Gerald and Charlene. Clay had heard of the last couple. He had Googled the others. He still suffered from nightmares and he knew Sonny did as well. They had seen many horrors in the field, but being kidnapped by a serial killer couple took things to another level of craziness all together.

“How many victims?” Clay asked.

Lisa looked at Jason before she replied. “The FBI’s investigation is still far from being completed but at this stage they’ve confirmed twenty-four men.”

Clay lowered his head. He looked up when Sonny squeezed his hand. When he was released from hospital a few days ago, he ended up at Sonny’s apartment. He was unsure on how the Texan got that to happen, or, for that matter how Trent agreed to it. In all honesty, he didn’t care. He was out of the hospital and he was happy to spend time with Sonny.

A grin appeared on his face. If everything went well, he would be spending a lot more time with Sonny. The second night at Sonny’s, they had ended up next to each other on Sonny’s extra-long and extra comfortable couch. Sonny had pulled him to his side and before Clay could ask why, Sonny had kissed him. And he’d kissed him good.

Clay was so stunned when they both came up for air that he couldn’t form any words. He had licked his lips, grinned and yanked Sonny closer and this time he took Sonny’s breath away by kissing his boots off him. They had made out on that couch like two teenagers that couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

And then they talked. They’d talked into the early hours of the morning. Clay was stunned by the fact that Sonny already talked to the team on how he felt about Clay. Now he had his answer on how Sonny managed to get him all to himself in his apartment. They were both aware that any relationship between the two of them was going to take work. It wasn’t going to be an easy walk in the park. And they were prepared to put in the work.

“What are you thinking about?” Sonny’s voice sounded up next to him.

Clay looked down at their interlocked hands. “That I’m grateful for serial killers.”

“What!” Sonny’s voice squeaked.

Clay laughed. He reached out and pulled Sonny closer to him so that their foreheads pressed together. “If it wasn’t for the fact that we got trapped together, me getting stabbed in the gut, and a pair of serial killers kidnapping us, we wouldn’t be sitting here hand in hand. So, yes, I’m grateful for serial killers.” He leaned in and kissed Sonny full on the mouth.

**THE END**


End file.
